What did you think of the show?
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theatreguys 
Shadowlands.
Whoops! Thought I sent this earlier.
We thought |everything about this production and performance was faultless. Loved every minute of it.
Thank you and well done Trevor for his skilful driving.
Thank you Mike and Fredo for another delightful evening.
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Shadowlands
I too loved this play, an excellent evening of theatre with a strong cast and masterful performance from Hugh Bonneville. A bonus for me was finding myself seated next to Rachel Kavanaugh and Matt Hassal. They made notes throughout, impressive I thought as I would have needed a head torch. I made a swift canvass of opinions from our group in the interval and was able to provide favourable feedback.
Once again a very appreciative thank you to Mike and Fredo.
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Shadowlands.
This is theatre at its best with a script testament to Jack’s developing love for Joy from within the cloistered intellectual groups at the time.
Great acting from Jack and Joy who made it easy to feel their deepening love and final huge loss. A beautiful relationship. Thank you for making this possible Fredo and Mike.
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Shadowlands.
What a treat this play was. The acting was superb – especially from Hugh Bonneville. He was hardly off the stage at all. The attraction of opposites makes an intriguing love story, and there were humorous as well as deeply moving moments. I knew the plot from seeing the Joss Ackland version, but this didn’t spoil it for me.
Thanks Fredo and Mike.
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Shadowlands
Perfect casting for this performance where Jack’s stiff upper lip Britishness was softened by Joy’s undemanding American honesty and humour. Emotional, relatable, mesmerising and impactful. I enjoyed it all and appreciated the great seats we had – thanks Fredo.
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Shadowlands
An highly emotionally charged and very moving performances from Hugh Bonneville as Jack and Maggie Siff as Joy .There were some lighter moments in the play but also deep sadness .An excellent performance all round . Thank you for encouraging us to see many diverse performances and also to Trevor for getting us home with so many road closures in place
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Shadowlands
Wow! I so enjoyed everything about this performance. It was excellent in every way and extremely emotional. I intend to buy and read his book, A Grief Observed.
Thank you both for all the opportunities to experience such amazing, talented theatre.
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Shadowland
Thank you Fredo for the great seats to this amazing show. I knew nothing about this show as I do not like to spoil the moment. It was quite emotional and made you think about choices in life and how decisions you make can make or break your happiness. As a Christian I really loved his questions and annoyance at time, with God. Sad but true.
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Shadowlands (2nd try!)
I saw the film back in 1993 and a line from it struck a chord with me: “The pain now is part of happiness then”. I lost my first husband to cancer the same year, and so of course the line was particularly significant, as was the film.
As to the play, I loved every minute. The script was so engaging and the story so well told and so sad, especially as it is a true story. They say opposites attract, and so Jack, prolific writer of the Narnia books, is slowly captivated by Joy, a poet, free thinker and the total opposite of himself.
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Shadowlands
Absolutely fantastic. The acting was brilliant and a very emotional play. Thank you so much Fredo for the scene setting, which was very valuable. The journey home was difficult but our driver was excellent and found a way.
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shadowlands
Thank you Fredo for the opportunity for us to share Jacks thinking in this play. Yes, how heavy and powerful it was. But it was there for us to relate to Jacks doubts on his religion and then coming back at the end. Seldom do we see such heavy stuff as this. I thought Hugh Bonneville was excellent in that part. He displayed perfectly how difficult it all is to accept it all as the package.
Always grateful for our excellent coach driver, who always finds a way. Jan.
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Woman in Mind – a sad reminder of what it must be like to be really confused in your mind. Funny first half and then dark and disturbing with no support for Susan from her family. I thought the characters at the end weren’t in keeping with the story and that spoiled it for me. Sheridan Smith was so good and it was an interesting cast. Thanks Fredo for another interesting evening
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Woman in Mind
An interesting evening A rather frail looking Sheridan Smith gave a towering performance as Susan wife to a uncaring dull vicar Gerald, mother to an absent uncommunicative son and sister in law to dowdy incompetent Muriel.
Romesh Ranganathan gave an impressive debut acting performance as the bumbling Dr Bill.Having been hit on the head by a garden rake ,Susan fantasises having a loving daughter, husband and brother rather the uncaring neglected life she leads.The comedy gradually descends into a dark sad place psychologically. It was bizarre the appearance of Gerald as Elvis in the closing minutes of this play. I enjoyed the performances from all the actors ,subject matter I’m not sure.
Again thanks to Fredo Mike and our driver Andrew.
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Woman in Mind
We didn’t know the play so the production was not quite what we expected. Not every play has to fit neatly in a category but we suppose this is a sort of psycho-drama comedy. Sheridan’s isolated and unloved Susan did a good job of leading us though her breakdown. We thought that the symbolic use of the safety curtain to separate realities worked pretty well. The first act seemed quite thin but, by contrast, action accelerated significantly in the second. Eventually, we were left a little dazed. Would we recommend? No. Are we glad that we went? Probably. Thank you to Fredo and Mike for the stimulation and a thumbs up to Cooks Coaches who have been doing an excellent and efficient job since the introduction of direct booking.
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Woman in Mind.
Interesting how this play makes you think more about having seen it?
Robin commented that though a lot of fuss is made of Sheridan Smith though she played the part very well he was surprised to see Romesh Ranganathan playing a semi straight roll and thoroughly enjoyed his performance.
Certainly a different Ayckbourn though it did produce laughs. You could see Susan’s frustration driving her mad which got a grip on her having a controlling husband and a son who never spoke then went to a commune, all seem to abandon her except for her imaginary daughter, husband etc but all her fantasies came into fruition her husband i.e.Elvis which in the end sent her to the end. This has made me look into Alan Ayckbourn even more.
Thank you again Mike and Fredo for another interesting evening.
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Kenrex.
Wow! Storytelling at it’s finest.
Small town Skidmore, Missouri and the sorry tale of how one bullying resident made the lives of the other residents miserable and how it all came to a terrifying conclusion in 1981.
This brutal episode in the town’s history was brought to us by the amazingly talented Jack Holden. All the voices, all the personalities and characteristics were brought to life without pause. The energy was infectious and the accompanying excellent music added to the atmosphere and tension. I definitely felt anxiety whenever Ken Rex McElroy made an appearance and smiled but squirmed at the sleazy defence lawyer.
Just brilliant. Thank you Fredo and Mike for encouraging us to see it.
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